58 



ON THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 



-ihfe diversified orders of delighted existence 

 that people the air, the waters, and the earth, 

 the nice adaptation of their organs and faculties 

 to their different situations and modes of life, the 

 ample provision made for their wants and enjoy 

 ments, and the boundless dimensions of the di 

 vine empire, where similar instances of benefi 

 cence are displayed the heart is disposed to 

 rest with confidence on Him who made it, con 

 vinced that his almighty power qualifies him to 

 make us happy by a variety of means of which 

 we have no adequate conception, and that his 

 faithfulness and benevolence dispose him to with 

 hold no real good &quot; from them that walk up 

 rightly.&quot; 



Such studies would likewise tend to heighten 

 the delights of social enjoyment. There is no 

 thing more grating to the man of intelligence than 

 the foolish and trifling conversation which pre 

 vails in the various intercourses of social life, 

 even among the middling and the higher circles 

 of society, and in convivial associations. The 

 ribaldry and obscenity, the folly and nonsense, 

 and the laughter of fools which too frequently 

 distinguish such associations, are a disgrace to 

 our civilized condition, and to our moral and in 

 tellectual nature. Without supposing that it will 

 ever be expedient to lay aside cheerfulness and 

 rational mirth, the lively smile, or even the loud 

 laugh, it is surely conceivable, that a more ra 

 tional and improving turn might be given to gene 

 ral conversation than what is frequently exem 

 plified in our social intercourses. And what can 

 we suppose better calculated to accomplish this 

 end than the occasional introduction of topics 

 connected with science and general knowledge, 

 when all, or the greater part, are qualified so take 

 a share in the general conversation ? It would 

 tend to stimulate the mental faculties, to suggest 

 useful hints, to diffuse general information, to 

 improve science and art, to excite the ignorant to 

 increase in knowledge, to present interesting ob 

 jects of contemplation, to enliven the spirits, and 

 thus to afford a source of rational enjoyment. 

 It would also have a tendency to prevent those 

 shameful excesses, noisy tumults, and scenes of 

 intemperance which so frequently terminate our 

 festive entertainments. For want of qualifica 

 tions for such conversation, cards, dice, childish 

 questions and amusements, gossiping chit-chat, 

 and tales of scandal are generally resorted to, in 

 order to consume the hours allotted to social en 

 joyment. And how melancholy the reflection, 

 that rational beings capable of investigating the 

 laws and phenomena of the universe, and of pro 

 secuting the most exalted range of thought, and 

 who are destined to exist in other worlds, through 

 out an endless duration should be impelled to 

 resort to such degrading expedients, to wheel 

 away the social hours ! 



Domestic enjoyment might likewise be height 

 ened and ir, proved by the studies to which we 



have adverted. For want of qualifications for 

 rational conversation, a spirit of listlessness ant 

 indifference frequently insinuates itself into the 

 intercourses of families, and between married 

 individuals, which sometimes degenerates into 

 fretfulness and impatience, and even into jars, 

 contentions, and violent altercations ; in wnich 

 case there can never exist any high degree of 

 affection or domestic enjoyment. It is surely 

 not unreasonable to suppose, that were the minds 

 of persons in the married state possessed of a 

 certain portion of knowledge, and endowed with 

 a relish for rational investigations not only 

 would such disagreeable effects be prevented, 

 but a variety of positive enjoyments would be 

 introduced. Substantial knowledge, which leads 

 to the proper exercise of the mental poAvers, has 

 a tendency to meliorate the temper, and to pre 

 vent those ebullitions of passion, which are the 

 results of vulgarity and ignorance. Bv invigo 

 rating the mind, it prevents it frcm sinking into 

 peevishness and inanity. It affords subjects for 

 interesting conversation, and augments affection 

 by the reciprocal interchanges of sentiment and 

 feeling, and the mutual communication of in 

 struction and entertainment. And in cases where 

 malignant passions are ready to burst forth, ra 

 tional arguments will have a more powerful influx 

 ence in arresting their progress, in cultivated 

 minds, than in those individuals in whose consti 

 tution animal feeling predominates, and reason 

 has lost its ascendancy. As an enlightened 

 mind is generally the seat of noble and liberal 

 sentiments in those cases where the parties be 

 long to different religious sectaries, there is more 

 probability of harmony and mutual forbearance 

 being displayed, Avhen persons take an enlarged 

 view of the scenes of creation, and the revela 

 tions of the Creator, than can be expected in the 

 case of those whose faculties are immersed in 

 the mists of superstition and ignorance. 



How delightful an enjoyment is it, after the 

 bustle of business and the labours of the day are 

 over, when a married couple can sit down at 

 each corner of the fire, and, with mutual relish 

 and interest, read a volume of history or of po 

 pular philosophy, and talk of the moral govern 

 ment of God, thrarrangcments of his providence, 

 and the wonders of the universe! Such inter 

 esting conversations and exercises beget a mutual 

 esteem, enliven the affections, and produce a 

 friendship lasting as our existence, and which no 

 untoward incidents can ever effectually impair. 

 A Christian pastor, in giving an account of the 

 last illness of his beloved partner, in a late perio 

 dical work, when alluding to a book she had read 

 along with him about two months before her de 

 cease, says, &quot; I shall never forget the pleasure 

 with which she studied the illustrations of the 

 divine perfections in that interesting book. Ris* 

 ing from the cnntonriplation of the variety, beauty, 

 immensity, and &amp;lt;srder of the creation, she ex 



